Wednesday, 1 August 2007

MJ Hibbett and the Validators - Indietracks

The mighty Hibbett takes to the stage to tune up.

The unofficial headline act of the festival in my opinion. Through the sweat and the tears, its easy to see the magic, the soul, the energy bubbling through, songs like Leave My Brother Alone and Billy Jones is Dead. Still reaching back to school daze, still escaping to utopian futures where all you need is an acoustic guitar and a heart of gold.

Its the first time I've seen him play with the Validators, despite all his excursions to Scotlan, well, YouTube doesn't count, the man is a god amongst nice guys. Just in front of the stage is his over-dedicated fan who travels the country to see him play.

The front of the crowd haserrupted into indiekids dancing.

I guess his songs hold resonances with everyone. Leave My Brother Alone could be about when My brother stepped in at school, The Lesson of the Smiths, the verse about when my Glasgow mob went on the anti-war march half a world away.

The encore, internet hit Hey Hey 16K. I had to fight back the tears. Indiepop shouldn't be this good.